- February 6 is the deadline for federal workers to accept or decline Trump’s deferred resignation offer.
- On Tuesday, the White House said over 20,000 workers had already accepted the buyout.
- Some workers told BI they’re still unsure whether the offer is the best choice for them.
Civil servants have hours left to decide whether to accept a buyout offer that could change their lives. Many don’t feel prepared.
“I’m feeling like I need to make a decision when I don’t have all the cards on the table,” a 17-year federal employee said, adding that they voted for President Donald Trump but felt confused about the buyout offer. All federal workers who spoke to BI were granted anonymity and their identities have been verified.
February 6 is the deadline to accept the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer, which said it would pay federal workers through September 30 — without the requirement to work during that time — if they agree to resign.
BI spoke to over a dozen federal workers for this story, and many of them said they still have unanswered questions about retirement benefits, return-to-office requirements, and resignation payments, among other things.
Others have already made up their minds. Over 20,000 federal workers have accepted the buyout offer as of Tuesday, per the White House, and an OPM spokesperson said that the number of resignations was “rapidly growing,” Business Insider previously reported.
Still, more workers reported feeling angry about the offer because they felt it failed to respect their years of service to the federal government.
“Fork Them!!” one federal worker told BI in response to the official resignation agreement circulated among employees this week — originally announced in an email titled “Fork in the Road” — saying that it “reeks of desperation.”
“All of the emails and directives we’ve been receiving from HR@opm.gov reek of social engineering, gaslighting, and a very strange brand of corporate groupthink,” a longtime federal worker said, referring to the widely noticed similarities between the federal government’s buyout offer and Elon Musk’s X playbook.
Meanwhile, another federal worker previously told BI that they wanted to give the administration the benefit of the doubt given Trump’s second term has only just begun.
Below are three of the main questions that federal workers said still remain unanswered.
How would a deferred resignation impact retirement?
Some of the workers BI spoke to said retirement benefits and how they would work with the buyouts made them nervous to accept.
One federal employee told BI that they’re not considering the buyout because of pension requirements that specify 5 years of work in the federal government. They’re worried accepting the resignation would impede those benefits.
“I’m in the middle of my working career and trying to continue building my retirement,” they said.
The Office of Personnel Management posted an FAQ with additional details on the buyout. It said that employees who accept the offer will continue to accrue retirement benefits over the next eight months.
Additionally, it said that employees who are at least 50 years of age with 20 years of federal service are eligible for VERA, or Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, which allows agencies who are undergoing structural changes to expand the number of employees eligible for retirement.
How would the government funding deadline impact paychecks?
Labor unions representing workers have already raised alarm bells over the proposed buyout package since it offers pay past the date through which the government is funded. A February 5 legal challenge from several unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, argues that, for most federal agencies, the current appropriation ends on March 14 — but the new directive is authorizing expenditures beyond that date.
“The Antideficiency Act forbids such a guarantee,” the complaint said, referring to a law that, in part, bars agencies from expending or obligating funding ahead of an appropriation.
One federal worker noted concerns that should the government shut down, workers who took the offer could lose some money.
“What some people might not understand is the budget is only approved through March,” they said. “The thought is they will kick the can down the road until the end of the fiscal year, but if that doesn’t happen, people who take this offer could be out a lot of money.”
Another federal worker said that “we’re all concerned” about the payment beyond the date that the government is funded through and that “there’s currently no precedent set for this type of offer.”
The agreement template and FAQs circulated addressed a potential funding pause — the agreement said that should appropriations lapse, employees will be placed on furlough and then given backpay for that period.
Why the short timeline and could the offer be extended?
The deferred resignation agreement said that employees must work through February 28 to “ensure a smooth transition,” and will be placed on leave no later than March 1. Workers also have to agree that they will not “pursue through any judicial, administrative, or other process” action against their respective agency, and that they’re entering the agreement free from coercion or duress.
Additionally, the OPM FAQ said that the option to accept the deferred resignation “will generally not be available” for those who resign after February 6, while certain exceptions might be made for those who were on leave during the past couple of weeks.
Even so, the 17-year federal employee said that they wished the administration would extend the February 6 deadline to allow them to gather more information to determine if the buyout is the right choice. A group of federal worker unions filed a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to extend the deadline, calling it a “short-fused ultimatum which workers may not be able to enforce.”
“I would love to see some type of hold on the date to make the decision,” the employee said. “We shouldn’t have to make a major life decision in nine days.”
Did you accept the federal buyout? Are you a federal worker with something to share? Reach out to these reporters at asheffey@businessinsider.com and jkaplan@businessinsider.com, or contact them securely on Signal at asheffey.97 or julianakaplan.33.